This past February we re-launched GO!, our long-standing service program for secondary school students. GO! had been sidelined for several years due to the pandemic, but was one of the first projects placed on my to-do list when I began working at FRCS last June. While GO! has been organized a few different ways in the past, for this iteration we decided to try a new model. Beginning in the first week of February, we sent out two senior high dGroups every Friday to serve with one of our local partners. In this way, while individual students only served twice during the semester, Front Range Christian School served as an institution every week that school was in session.
The biblical framework for GO! is simple: we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev. 19:18; Mk 12:31). We do not serve to make FRCS look good or to enhance the quality of our seniors’ college applications. Rather, we serve out of obedience to God’s command to love those in our community.
One of our GO! partners this spring was a literal neighbor: Open Arms Food Bank. Students were able to walk to Open Arms with their dGroup, as it is located right across the alley on the north side of campus. While at Open Arms, students were tasked with sorting donated goods, stacking boxes, and packing bins in preparation for pick-up. During the first week that FRCS served at Open Arms, they gave food and toiletries to over 200 families during their regular weekly distribution.
Our second GO! partner allowed students to participate in a different method of loving one’s neighbor. ThriveCare Assisted Living provides care and support for elders in six group houses—all of which happen to be located within an eight minute drive of FRCS. At these homes, students had the opportunity to interact with residents through crafts, games, and conversation, while also helping at times with gardens and the chicken coop.
Some students were hesitant at first about spending time with elderly strangers, but the stories I consistently heard from ThriveCare staff and Front Range teachers were incredibly encouraging. Residents who would rarely participate in house activities or were estranged from their families came alive in their interactions with our students. Time and time again, the feedback from ThriveCare was that the kindness and engagement of our students was bringing joy and hope to their residents.
This fall, GO! will once again be integrated into our senior high dGroups. We are also looking to expand the program in order to include the junior high students. Our hope is that GO! becomes embedded into FRCS culture, and that these tangible expressions of love for our neighbors contributes to the transformation of our students into disciples who look increasingly more like Christ.
